Redemptive Recession
by aisha89
Summary: The economy was slowly getting better along with Hinata's prospects at Hyuga Corp. Neji's future never looked better either. Sasuke was back...and in business. Nothing could possibly go wrong, could it? Plz R


_**(Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; belongs to Masashi Kiskimoto as you all know from reading so many fanfics.)**_

_**Chapter 1**__**:**_

It was mostly a cloudy day with a few rays of sunshine peaking out through the massive clouds. Occasionally some light would shed through the windows of the numerous skyscrapers before another cloud rolled by completely blocking the sun. The sky suddenly lit up as lightning flashed across the sky. But that did not stop the mass of people walking on the sidewalks from going about their daily business. Men and women in suits trod rapidly past each other looking microscopic against the background of giant buildings which seemed to line every street. The occasional tourists, with heads towards the sky, tried to determine how tall the buildings in front of them actually were. Konoha was a financial district, the foremost financial district of the Fire Country, and as a result was always bustling with people being it rain or shine.

"Hey, Udon!" cried a spiky-haired preteen, his cape flapping behind him as he ran up to the building in front of him.

"Yeah, Konohamaru..." said a monotonous reply of another boy walking up to him, snot hanging from his nose.

"Look at it", he pointed to the entrance enthusiastically where a couple of men stood guard, "...the lights are on, and it actually has people in it." The two boys stepped back and looked up at the edifice in front of them. It started as a curved cubic-rectangle from the top and gradually widened making the base bigger than the roof. Black glass adorned the structure on all sides with only a huge red and white symbol covering the middle of the top few stories. This was not remarkable though, they had seen the iconic building many times before. What truly confused them was the fact that it showed signs of life.

"Konohamaru, Udon!" started a girlish voice from across the street. They turned to see a girl with carrot-orange hair, who looked both ways, and ran across street before the incoming car could come any closer.

"Why did you two run off on me like that?" she scolded, "Ebisu-sensei is gonna be so angry with us! We only just became genin, now's not the time to be running off like this!"

"Relax Moegi", answered Konohamaru "That's the more reason to celebrate." He smiled arrogantly.

"...I don't know..."She glanced at the ground, lost in thought of the obvious punishment they would get if Ebisu caught them.

"Besides," he interrupted, eyes turning toward the building, "can you believe it? The rumors were all true. This place is back in business." He crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, speaking more to himself, "But, honestly, who'd wanna work here? It is haunted after all. "

"Huh, rumors?" Moegi looked at the structure her friend referred to, only to end up shutting her eyes in annoyance. Seriously, Konohamaru was so slow sometimes. "Of course it's in business again. It's been in business for a year now. Don't you watch the news at all, Konohamaru?"

"Wah?", he cried, almost falling forward from the revelation.

"Come on you two", Moegi grabbed their ears despite their squirms, "we gotta get back to the academy before lunch is over."

A dark-haired man emerged out of the slick black car before the chauffeur could even put his fingers on the handle to open the door.

"A-ah, sorry sir, I wasn't quick enough. I'll do better next time." the spectacled boy bowed furiously low, face flustered.

The businessman straightened his suit jacket and looked at the young man from the corner of his eyes. He shut his eyes in slight annoyance. He would not admit it but he missed his old driver already. Chikiru was a highly enlightened yet simple man. He had come to understand his habits over the years and was thus aware of how he worked. It was just too cumbersome to have to explain everything again to another after being used to the same person for quite some time. Chikiru had known that his boss was easily irritated with such formalities. Of course his boss was no doubt a formal man, but a very independent formal man. He did not need nor want the help of others for such trivial things. Chikiru's death was indeed very unfortunate.

"It's alright, Shishima" his deep voice signifying a level of importance few people hold, "I believe we all have the power to at least open our own doors if nothing else. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-yes, sir", Shishima answered straightening himself up, obvious confusion showing on his face.

Ebony hair barely flapped as a cool breeze played by and the distinguished individual made his way to the double doors of the building in front of him, not stopping to admire the magnificence that attracted people from far and wide to come and see it. Of course, the gentleman had entered from the rear like all the administrators, but the Hyuga Corp. building was worth looking at from every angle, even from the rear. It was traditional yet had a very sophisticated elegance to it. For one thing it was one of the tallest buildings in Konoha only being rivaled by the Uchiha building. It was perfectly cylindrical in shape with lavender and golden tinted glass arranged in an alternate pattern that adorned it on all sides. The very top of the building was decorated with a pale golden Pagoda roof The Hyuuga Family Crest stood upon a small stage in the middle of the roof, bloody red in color, the only contrast to the overall soft tones of the structure. He walked through the doors amidst bowing guards.

Hinata surveyed all the members of the table from under her bangs. They were silent except for the two old women that sat to the left across from her. Yet, she still could not help but notice the occasional glance that was shot her way while they all waited for the meeting to begin. She had to be strong. It was finally time to prove her hard work. _"Think, what would Naruto-kun have done?", _she thought to herself. The image of the hyperactive blue-eyed blonde instantaneously brought back memories from the academy days. He was always loud and energetic, forever ready to prove his worth. She could almost imagine him in her own situation right now throwing his fists on the table and shouting that he never went back on his word, and so if he said that he would raise the company's profit then no one had any other choice but to believe it.

"Naruto-kun", she whispered inaudibly and her cheeks reddened.

Instantly, a middle-aged ebony-haired man walked into the room, causing Hinata to look up at him.

"Hiashi-sama", said a particularly old looking man, everyone automatically stood up and bowed. Hiashi nodded coming to stand at the head of the table, casting a look at the young woman in front of him before sitting down. She involuntarily bowed lower. The equally dark haired youth next to her observed her from the corner of his eyes.

Hiashi nodded at them, "Please be seated everyone."

Neji listened closely to what Lord Hiashi was saying; in fact, he always listened closely to what Lord Hiashi had to say. It was his job as the representative of the Branch family to attend all meetings and conferences so that he could inform the Branch family of all the decisions and policies that were being made in the family's company. Today was no exception. The first quarter of the year had just ended, and so a conference was called for all the shareholders and/or representatives to discuss the earnings. Of course that was not the only thing that would be discussed. He shot a glance at the petite woman next to him once again. Hinata was also here today, something that seemed to become more frequent over the year, but she would not be a casual observer like any previous instance. Rather, Hinata was here today to make a proposal, or discuss some new business products for the asset management sector of the conglomerate called Hyuga Corp. Any outsider would have thought this strange. No one gave presentations or made proposals about products or services to the shareholders of the company. In fact, usually shareholders were not at all interested in what was sold and how it was sold. They merely looked to the administration to confirm whether or not they would be able to make a profit off it. The Hyuga were different. They were practically a zaibatsu. So with that much respect in the land, they had to be extra cautious to uphold the family name. Yes, all the shareholders would personally look into all matters of the corporation including proposals, especially this time since the corporation's supposed future heir was concerned.

"...seen a net profit gain of 10 only during this quarter. It seems Hiashi-sama, that the recession is receding now as consumer confidence is steadily increasing more rapidly. We just have to compare the amount of clients we had in our investment services sector this quarter to last quarter to see the trend."

"Very well", came the CEO's deep voice, " Now that the Fire Country's post-war rebuilding projects have been completed, more people are beginning to invest the monetary aid they have received from the government to rebuild and grow their own personal wealth. We will be locked in a fierce competition with many other companies who will be looking to court as many new customers as well. We are lucky that our country did not have to experience a depression due to the recession. But we must now find a plan as to what we should do next. " His eyes swept across the table at the numerous other pale pairs of eyes before coming to rest on a pair only a person away. "What do you say, Neji? What is the best course of action we can take to ensure the greatest growth in our clients' wealth?"

Neji's eyes widened a fraction. This was another thing that was happening more often. Lord Hiashi had asked for his opinion. He had always despised the man from since he could remember, but that was only because he was stuck in misunderstanding. He had thought that his father, Hiashi's twin, had been sent to his death because of his royal highness. He had, however, learned the truth of the matter in a rather painful way several years ago. His uncle had been making amends since in subtle ways, but Neji could not help but think this was becoming more prominent now. He looked at the arrogant faces of all the other "elders" as they were termed. He could make out hints of confusion in all of their eyes despite their outward stoicism.

"I believe another hedge fund would be most efficient, Hiashi-sama", he answered calmly, " It, of course, requires a considerable amount of money, but if we could find the right amount of clients to invest in the fund with a global macro multi-strategy in, perhaps commodity trading, we can be able to make the greatest amount of profit in the shortest possible time."

Eyes still on his uncle, he tried to decipher his Uncle's reaction. Hiashi's face was one of concentration.

"Alright", he spoke after five seconds, an invisible smile playing at his lips, "I believe your proposal will be the most efficient approach we can take." He looked around at the other members of the table, "We shall vote on it. All who are in favor, please show by a raise of hands."

Some hands rose up almost immediately, like the young brainy Hyuga's, who was previously giving a report on the progress they had made this quarter. Still, others raised theirs reluctantly; unsure of whether or not a branch member's advice should be taken.

"It is decided, then. We will carry out this proposal." His eyes then automatically trailed to the woman sitting on his left, "Hinata, I believe you have a proposal of your own to share with us."

The indigo-haired woman's head jerked up at the sound of her name, "U-um, yes", she answered softly, shuffling to her feet and walking to the front of the room.

"G-good afternoon, everyone", she bowed, " Today I-I'm here to present a-a proposal for the asset m-management s-sector..."

All eyes stared straight at her.

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(A/N) Hey, Aisha here! And this is my attempt at writing an AU story. I'm sorry it sounds so technical and….well, boring right now, but I promise it'll get better. Also, as the story progresses I'll let you guys know of all the deviations of this Naruto world from the original one. Like, for example, you must have all noticed that Moegi says that they've just become genin…so you guys are probably like…what? There are ninjas in the story?

So, don't worry 'bout that…it'll all be explained in due time…so, that's it for now, and oh yeah, don't forget to review!! (PLZ!)


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